Speedrunning the World Starting with Firefly

It was mealtime. She couldn't let other matters interrupt her meal.

So she merely glanced at him once before no longer paying him any attention.

Meanwhile, Ukiyo Ace seemed to have sensed something. He turned to glance at Firefly, having been spacing out, but although the girl before him was very pretty, he did not know her at all.

Maybe it was just a coincidence!

He felt that he was being overly sensitive. She had only looked at him once, after all.

After all, unless someone had personally witnessed Firefly transform into Sam of the Stellaron Hunters, it would have been difficult for anyone to connect the two.

When Firefly had appeared before Ukiyo Ace and the others before, she had always been in Sam's form.

She had nothing in common with how she looked now.

"Sam of the Stellaron Hunters..."

Who exactly was he? Did he have something to do with his mother?!

Thinking of that Stellaron Hunter again, Ukiyo Ace furrowed his brow and racked his brains, but he had no clues at all.

The information Sam had revealed before left him deeply concerned and conflicted.

He wanted to find Sam of the Stellaron Hunters and ask him face-to-face, but setting aside whether Sam would tell him anything, finding him was difficult enough already.

The Desire Grand Prix had suddenly been suspended before, and he still had not received any news from the management.

He had no idea what had happened afterward.

While Geats was stuck here at a complete loss, Firefly happily ate the food that had been served. Once she was nearly full, she rubbed her little belly and went to pay the bill.

She noticed that Ukiyo Ace was still there. The food in front of him had already gone cold, yet he had barely touched it. What a waste of food!

Suddenly, Firefly had an idea—something she had considered before.

Without hesitation, she turned and vanished from the restaurant. When she appeared again a few minutes later, she had an additional USB drive in her hand, its contents freshly copied.

It was the most ordinary kind, worth practically nothing.

Come to think of it, although Ukiyo Ace was no longer the Star of the Stars of the Stars from the original story, he was still not lacking in material wealth at all.

Although he had not done much serious work over the years and had basically just been picking on weaklings in the Rider reality show, earning money was far too easy for someone with a thousand years of memories.

It was simply not where his focus lay. For him, having enough money and financial freedom was enough.

Seeing that Ukiyo Ace had not left, Firefly walked straight toward him.

"..."

"If you miss her so much, then what were you doing before?"

She strolled over to Ukiyo Ace's side and found that he did not seem to have noticed her presence at all. He was merely staring blankly at the gold coin in his hand.

It was the only item his first mother had left him.

It was also the honorary reward he had received for becoming a Desire Deity after winning the Desire Grand Prix back then.

Chapter 46: How Much Is Your Mother Worth ### "Hmm?"

Hearing the voice beside him, Ukiyo Ace clenched the gold coin in his hand and put it away before turning to look at the newcomer.

It was the girl who had been dining nearby earlier.

But her words caught Ukiyo Ace's attention. They sounded as though she knew about his past.

It was hard to believe. Aside from himself, no one should know about him and his mother. Even the Desire Grand Prix management did not know much about it.

"Are you talking to me?"

Ukiyo Ace asked softly, wondering who this girl before him was.

"There shouldn't be anyone else here."

Firefly had not originally planned to take the initiative to contact Ukiyo Ace anytime soon, but since they had run into each other now, she did not mind giving things a push.

Although she was not afraid of the Desire Grand Prix at all, taking it on alone would be rather monotonous.

Ukiyo Ace and the Desire Grand Prix management also had an irreconcilable conflict between them.

His first mother, whom he cared about so deeply, was merely a tool of the Desire Grand Prix management—a consumable whose power of creation was nearly exhausted.

Once Ukiyo Ace learned of this, he would undoubtedly become an enemy of the Desire Grand Prix management.

"Who are you?"

"And what did you mean by that?"

Firefly's response made Ukiyo Ace rise to his feet, his gaze fixed firmly on her.

Though she had not said it outright, it was obvious that this unfamiliar girl knew a great deal about him.

She was no ordinary person!

"Who I am isn't important."

"But there's something you might need."

As she spoke, Firefly took out the USB drive she had just prepared and placed it in front of him.

"What is this?"

Looking at the USB drive before him, Ukiyo Ace did not reach out to take it right away.

"Something you've been searching for—something you've always wanted to know."

Without beating around the bush, Firefly sat down across from him and calmly revealed what was on the USB drive.

Yes, she had gone out just now to casually buy a USB drive by the roadside, then copied part of the footage concerning the Goddess of Creation from the Vision Driver onto it.

Because of her interference, Firefly did not know when the fox before her would uncover these secrets about the Desire Grand Prix's operations.

Since that was the case, she did not mind giving things a push.

It would be more interesting if Geats clashed with the Desire Grand Prix's operators ahead of time.

Although Ukiyo Ace might not yet have the ability to deal with the Desire Grand Prix's operators. After all, he did not even possess his red fox form yet, let alone his nine-tailed fox form.

But Firefly believed that only under such circumstances could he unleash the power of creation within him.

To be honest, Firefly still very much wanted to fight the Fox God. Otherwise, there were hardly any people in this world worthy of making her use her true power and form.

And if she could defeat Geats in his Fox God state, the achievement reward certainly would not be low.

It would also serve as preparation for the worlds to come.

No one knew what the next world would be like or whether it would be exceptionally dangerous. With enough points, she could reduce the danger to a minimum.

Of course, if Ukiyo Ace failed to unleash his power of creation and was truly killed by the Desire Grand Prix's operators, Firefly would not feel too guilty.

At most, she would regret losing the Fox God achievement.

But as a child of miracles, Geats surely would not disappoint her. Besides, he still had Ziin, the top-ranking patron, supporting him.

"...Something I want?"

Looking at the utterly ordinary USB drive, Ukiyo Ace naturally did not believe Firefly just because of a single sentence.

How could someone he had never met know what he wanted?

But when he recalled Firefly's first words, he could not help but care. Could there really be information about his mother inside?

Was the girl before him truly connected to the Desire Grand Prix's operators?

Or was she simply one of the Desire Grand Prix's operators?

"The person you never forgot, even after reincarnating for a thousand years."

"Don't you want to know where she went?"

Seeing that Geats clearly understood what she meant yet deliberately played dumb, Firefly did not waste any more words with him and went straight to the point.

"What?!"

"How do you know about that?"

"Are you one of the Desire Grand Prix's operators? Where is she?!"

Ukiyo Ace could no longer remain seated. Even though he had lived for a long time and was as cunning as a fox, he could not conceal his feelings when it came to this matter.

He slammed both hands heavily onto the table and stared fixedly at Firefly, demanding the answer he wanted.

"I told you. Everything you want to know is in there."

"You don't need to know anything else."

Ignoring Ukiyo Ace's agitation, Firefly replied just as calmly.

"..."

Hearing that, Ukiyo Ace gave Firefly a deep look. Without another word, he reached for the USB drive, but Firefly stopped him first.

"What do you mean?"

Ukiyo Ace instantly frowned, his gaze locked onto the girl.

"You weren't thinking of just taking it like that, were you?"

Firefly tilted her head at him, and her beautiful eyes made Ukiyo Ace fall silent.

"...What do you want?"

After pondering for several seconds, Ukiyo Ace still chose not to use force and instead asked Firefly what her purpose was.

"Money."

"Huh? Money?"

That answer caught Ukiyo Ace off guard. It was somewhat unexpected.

He had thought she had some other motive related to the Desire Grand Prix, but it turned out she wanted money!

For a moment, he even began to suspect that the girl before him was deceiving him and actually knew nothing at all.